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(Nd Model.)

T. W. F. SMITTEN.

BAR RING FASTENING. No. 371,283. Patented Oct. 11 1887.

wfn'fiwea Inf/ 612??? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS W. F. SMITTEN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

EAR-RING FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 371.283, dated October 11, 1887.

Application filed June 23, 1887.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS W. F. SMITTEN, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Ear-Ring Fastenings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to earring fastenings of the kind which are included, broadly, in my Letters Patent No. 364,140, granted May 31, 1887, and in which the ear-wire for insertion through the car has its end bent transversely to its length, and the lower wire, which is movable relatively to the ear-wirc, has at the upper end a positive lock for receiving and engaging the bent end of the ear-wire.

In carrying out my present invention I provide at the upper end of the lower movable wire a latch which is hinged to be swung back by the fingers or by the impact of the bent end of the ear-wire against it, and to return or be returned behind the bent end of the earwire after said end has passed the latch. In one construction of this combination or improvement I provide the upper end of the lower movable wire with a loop, through which the bent end of the ear-wire passes, and against which the free end of the hinged latch comes to a bearing when engaged with the bent ear-wire, and I prefer to make the latch with a perforation near its lower portion to receive the bent end of the ear-wire, and to deflect or set inward the central portion of the latch above its perforation, as hereinafter more particularly described.

The invention is more fully hereinafter de scribed; and it consists in novel combinations of parts, which are particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents an'ear-ring embodying my invention in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a back elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the latch and the movable lower wire in section; and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the position of parts in the operation of engaging the bent wire with the latch, and also showing by dotted lines the position of the movable lower wire with its latch swung downward.

Similar letters of reference designate corre sponding parts in all the figures! My invention is applicable to ear-rings which Serial No, 242.230. (No model.)

swing upon the ear-wires, as well as to those which are rigidly attached to the wires, and in the drawings I have illustrated the invention as applied to an ear-ring which is rigidly secured to the wires, save that the lower wire is hinged or movable.

A designates the ear-ring proper or the body of the ring, and B O designate, respectively, the ear-wire and the lower wire. In this example of the invention the lower wire, 0, is movable relatively to the ear-wire B by being hinged to the ear-ring at 0, so that it may be swung downward into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The end portion of the earwire B is bent transversely to its length, and in this example of the invention is bent or curved upward.

The remaining essential element of my fastening is a latch or gate, D, which, as here represented, consists of a piece of sheet metal hinged at d, and having a perforation, d, through which is received the bent end of the ear-wire B. I have here represented the movable lower wire, O, as formed at the top with a loop, 0, through which the bent end of the ear-wire B passes, and the latch D, which is hinged at d to the top bar of this loop, rests or bears against the inner side of the loop .0 whenin operative position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

I have shown in Fig. 1 dotted lines E, which represent the car with which the ring is engaged, and as here represented the movable lower wire, 0, bears directly against the inner side of the ear, and the latch D cannot swing back sufficiently far to disengage it from the bent end b of the ear-wire B, because of said latch striking against the head behind the ear, and hence the ear-ring is prevented from being lost while in use. It will also be observed that the latch D cannot move through the loop 0, but comes to a bearing against the face thereof, and hence the harder the pull which may be exerted outward upon the ear-ring the stronger will be the hold of the latch D upon the bent end of the ear-wire B. After the ear-wire B has been passed through the ear, the latch D being raised, the latch falls inward or is pushed inward against the loop 0, and thus holds the lower movable wire in looking engagement with the bent ear-wire.

In order to increase the security of the fastening, I have represented the central portion of the latch D, above its perforation (1, through which the ear-wire B passes, as offset or deflected at s, and as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, but also in Fig. 4, this offset or deflection tends to hold the parts in their proper locking position.

I now deem it preferable to form the latch D with its back convex in a vertical plane, and as shown at 0 in Figs. 8 and 4, so that when the latch is pushed or swung down the curved back 0 will act as a 0am to depress the ear-wire B, so that it will be received through the perforation d and will not be pushed bodily back or out of the loop 0 by the latch.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination in an ear-ring fasterr ing, of an ear-wire having its end bent transversely to its length, a lower wire movable relatively to the ear-Wire, and a latch, D, perforated at d to pass over the ear-wire, and hinged at the upper part to the lower movable wire, so as to be swung back by the fingers or by impact of the car-wire against it, and to return or be returned behind the bent end of the ear-wire, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, in an ear-ring fastening, of an ear-wire having its end bent transversely to its length, a movable lower wire having at the upper end a loop through which the ear-wire passes, and a latch consisting of a piece of metal perforated to receive the earwire and hinged to said loop, so as to be swung back by the fingers or by the impact of the earwire against it, and to return or be returned behind the bent end of the ear-wire and to a bearing against the loop, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, in an ear-ring fastening, of an ear-wire having its end bent upward, the movable lower wire, 0, having the loop 0, and the perforated latch D, hinged at the top of the loop and having its central portion above its perforation offset or deflected, as at s, substantially as herein described.

T. XV. F. SMITTEN.

Vitnesses:

C. IIALL, FREDK. HAYNES. 

